Thirty

In my education classes, I was taught the "sandwich method" to properly deal with parents.  You start with something positive about the child, then talk about the issue that you are having, and end with something positive.  I can think of no better method to use to describe my feelings on my thirtieth birthday.

I have so many great people in my life, and I am so thankful for all of them.  They have truly done their part to make turning 30 wonderful.  They let me know how great my life is.  In order to properly "sandwich," I'll save the specifics for the end of this post.

Now for the issue(s).  Sorry if I ramble a bit here.

I hated high school.  Not for the academic part, but for the social part.  I never fit in there, and I couldn't wait to get out.  This birthday has been a bit of a reminder of that experience.  It's been a reminder that I still don't quite fit in.  And I thought I did.  I thought I had made some really good friends as an adult.  I have; but not as many as I thought.  I was reminded of that this week, and it really hurts.  I know it shouldn't bother me.  I know I should focus on the many great friends that I do have.  For the most part, I do.  But this is my place to vent, so I am.  I know that my blog is on Facebook, and people can find me pretty easily.  I guess I'm just past the point of caring.

And speaking of Facebook, that's another thing that is bothering me tonight.  I feel like unfriending a bunch of people.  Since people can read this, I'm not going to go into detail on that, but it makes me wonder why some wanted to be my friend in the first place.  For me, Facebook is a reminder of high school, and how easy it is to ignore me.  Not a good feeling.  Especially today.

But enough of the bad.  It's time for the other piece of bread.  I have a wonderful husband.  He's planned a party for me, and I appreciate all of the work he has put into it.  He's sick today, but he's still doing what he can to make my birthday special.  He still managed to get me a present, wrap it, and sit up a little to watch me open it.  :-)  I may not "fit" everywhere, but I do fit with him, and I'm very lucky to have him.

My family is also wonderful.  My first phone call of the day came from them.  My middle nephew was pretty tired, and he doesn't like to talk on the phone, but he told me happy birthday.  My oldest nephew was a little more excited.  He SCREAMED "happy birthday" into the phone.  Then said, "you're really going to like this one...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"  My youngest nephew is a little too young to tell me happy birthday, but I like to think he was wishing me well, too.  My mom, dad, and brother also talked to me for a little while to wish me happy birthday.

I have several great coworkers.  My best guy friend (aside from Scott) wished me happy birthday right away this morning.  He then told a few of my students to make sure they did the same (they later told me this).  My teaching team was also great.  They got me a birthday card, and we are going out for a birthday breakfast tomorrow morning.  This is my first year with this team, so it's nice to know that they've accepted me so quickly as "one of them."  The other woman on my team also helped some of our students to make a birthday banner for me, and then I heard "happy birthday" from about 100 kids today.  They really are so sweet.

Best of all was my friend, Liana.  She's the first friend I met when I came to this area, and she is truly one of the best people I know.  She goes out of her way to make everyone feel special, but always makes it seem effortless.  I remember my first year at Clay.  She arranged for a group of us to go out to lunch together.  I don't know if she knew it at the time or not, but I was a little upset about being away from my family on my birthday.  It was the first time that I had ever not seen someone from my family on my actual birthday, and I was kind of dreading it.  I hadn't met Scott yet, so I was thinking that there would be no celebration.  Liana helped to make my birthday special, even though we'd only known each other a short time.  Staying true to form, Liana made this birthday special, too.  She got me a birthday cake and offered to help with the party this weekend in any way that she can.  She is truly a great friend, and I do appreciate her. 

Finally, I am thankful for all of the cards, texts, wall-posts, phone calls, and other birthday greetings that I got.  It's always great to know that others are thinking of me.  It makes me feel important and loved, and that's always a good feeling.  So, thank you, to my true friends.  You're the best!

The Bonus Carmel Home (Downstairs)

Some of my mom's friends wanted to see pictures of our house, so this post is dedicated to them...

When Scott and I started to look at houses, we looked in Carmel.  His parents live there, and I teach there, so it seemed like the place that made the most sense.  However, we ended up really liking a neighborhood on the other side of the street, which means our house is in Westfield.  This is fine with us.  But there are many people in the area who make snide comments because we don't live in the prestigious Carmel.  Because of this, Scott and I like to joke that we live in Bonus Carmel.  Here is the house we picked.

First, the outside...

A close-up of my cute little fall friends.

This is the view as you walk in the front door.

And if you turn around...

A close up of my little decorated table in the entryway.  I'm going to put a different arrangement on it for each season.  I just decorated for fall.

The office is to your right as you walk in.  It's still disorganized, but we're working on it.  The picture used to be in Scott's kitchen.  We haven't found a place for it yet in the new house.

Across from the stairway, we have a little hallway with a closet...

...that leads to our half bath.  I decided not to take a picture of the toilet, so you just get the sink.

The dining room is across from the office.  The first picture is a view of our dining room window.

This is our dining room table.

And our china cabinet...

As you walk through the dining room, you come into the kitchen.  This is one area of the kitchen.

And another...

And another (of our sink and window)...

We have an eating area in our kitchen.  The doors that you see are the pantry.

The living room is adjacent to the kitchen/eating area.

This is the edge of the half-wall that separates the kitchen and living room.

Our fireplace

With fall decorations

Our fireplace mantle

My last fall decorations

The living room also opens into the entryway (at the staircase), so the downstairs makes a complete circle.  On the other side of the stairs is a door to the basement.  The basement isn't finished, so I won't be including pictures of that.  Someday we'll get it done, and I'll post pictures at that time.

I'll save the upstairs for another day.

My new blog

The idea of starting a blog has always intrigued me, and I've always known that I will want to have one once I have kids.  But coming up with a name for my blog was holding me up.  I finally settled on the title of my favorite song.  No, Dot and about 50 other people, this doesn't mean kids are coming yet.  It simply means that I happened to check to see if my name was available for my blog address.  Since it was, I figured I'd better claim it before another Elizabeth Herman did.

The big reason that I'm starting my blog now is because some of my mom's friends are asking to see pictures of my house.  I promise, those will be coming soon, as well as many other pictures.